Thursday 30 December 2010

Christmas done and New Year to come

Hello again World!

I hope you all had an excellent Christmas. I certainly did. I was working on Christmas Eve which caused Christmas to pounce on me the next morning. I usually have a few days to mentally prepare for the festivities but not this year.

I spent Christmas with two friends from work. Sam and Doug are excellent people to be with as they too are away from their families at the moment. Doug's family are living at home in Argentina and Sam's are up in the North (of England).

Our Christmas day - Boxing Day and day after boxing day was comprised of eating and watching films. On Christmas day morning we went to Church and there was only a few of us so we sang carols and shared thoughts it was very pleasant. We finished the meeting with communion. We retired to Sam's house after Church.

Interestingly we only managed one meal a day, this was due to the immense amount of food eaten during that meal (we did snack though). The turkeys in Morrison's were split up into weight range. Which meant that a 4kg turkey was the same price as a 6kg turkey. It would be silly to resist such an offer. So it was a 6kg bird for 3 blokes. This was accompanied by roast parsnips, carrots and potatoes, mashed potatoes, pigs in blankets, stuffing, sprouts, gravy and a reverse trifle for dessert.

We were pretty much immobilised by the meal, so we sat down and started on the Christmas television and DVDs. Over the three days I completely lost track of what day it was, what time it was and how many films we saw. To be fair it was a good few!

So that was my Christmas, very relaxing and spent with good friends.

At the moment I am at home. I will be here until New Years day now. I am greatly looking forward to it. I have missed my family and friends. I have two options though. One is to spend it with my family and another to go and see my group of close friends that are here in Wrexham still (may be).

I'll report back in a few days time to tell you how it was. Also in the same post, I'll also give you my Evangelical Christian's moral opinion concerning the adoption of a child by Elton John and his civil partner. I know that this has caused a lot of emotional uproar from people opposed to it and from people who are even more opposed to people opposed to it, so I will express a Christian's point of view.

I'll catch you all soon,

I hope you have a happy New Year everyone.

Friday 24 December 2010

1st Post! A Christmassy Post!

Hello World!

I say World, this blog will probably only be read by my Dad, other members of the family and by about 4 other friends (yes, you are included).

It is Christmas day (just, its 0030) and there is snow on the ground in Bangor. The heating is on, as is my jumper and other warm clothes. I'm sure that it will be an interesting one. This is the first time that I will not be with my parents at Christmas. It is definitely quite a strange one. It feels like I've reached an mental/emotional landmark. Chronological ones like reaching double figures (10), 18 years old and becoming a real man (21) are all great but there is no real change.

Spending my first weekends away on Camp separated from my family, being away for a birthday for the first time and now being away for Christmas, which has always been a family event for us, have all caused interesting emotional responses. There is a consistency in the responses though. Each time I have missed my family dearly, and I miss them now. I know that they'll have a great time up in Scotland (and what ever Phil is doing), and I know I'm going have a great time here. I think that on every Christmas there will be something missing if my family are not there.

So it is Christmas and if you are interesting in seeing what I am doing then this is it:

  • 0900: Get up
  • 0915: 2nd attempt at getting up
  • 0920: Shower and get dressed (post shower)
  • 0940: Text Sam to see if he is awake.
  • 1000: Go to Sam's for breakfast.
  • 1030: Walk to Church.
  • 1100: Church service (Why do I go to Church on Christmas? read on!)
  • 1200: Walk home.
  • 1230: Preparations for lunch at Sam's.
  • 1330: Christmas TV watching commences.
  • 1600-1630: Christmas Dinner!
  • 1800: Doctor Who.
  • 1900 - 0000: Films.
  • 0030: Bed.

That is what you can expect me to be doing today.

At 1100 you may have noticed that I am in Church. After working in Costa for the last few months I have had the change to chat to customers. More recently when working on Coffee there is often a few moments to fill when steaming/frothing milk/hot chocolate for the customers (officially called guests). Chit-chat is important in the development of a friendly, familiar and comfortable environment. On the subject of Christmas people's responses vary from "it's for the kids" to "it's all a way of making money" to "it's nice to have a break isn't it".

Well readers, it is clear that the general populous has missed the importance of Christmas. Christmas isn't about presents or food. It is about the Son of God coming to Earth to become fully man (and fully God) in order to fulfil the Father's redemptive plan. Christmas isn't just about remembering a lovely story about Mary, Joseph, a Donkey and an inevitable cameo from an innkeeper. The main Character (and focus of History) is Jesus. Jesus is the 'point' of Christmas. It is basically a super-Sunday. It is a day of remembrance for Jesus's birth. We celebrate it once a year. Jesus came, lived a perfect sinless life and died on a cross to rescue us from the state that our souls are in. That is why we remember Christmas. Not because Father Christmas breaks in and leaves us toys.

Every Christmas day we eat a big meal. We do this annually to remember Jesus's birth. The one event more important that Jesus's birth is, without a doubt, Jesus's Death (and resurrection). Do we remember this with a feast annually? Some of you are probably thinking 'Yes, we do in our house. Easter Sunday Lunch, lovely!" You may well do this annually. For Christians the truth is that we remember Jesus's death with a feast 12x, 24x or may 52x more often than we do Christmas. Every time we eat the bread and drink the wine at the communion table we proclaim and remember the death and resurrection of Jesus. It really is that important! We must constantly keep this on our minds. God became man on Christmas (once) to save sinners from their sins (for always).

I hope that today you'll remember the birth of Christ and do enjoy your presents and your food; but remember WHY Christ was born! It was so he could save lost souls like you and me by dying on the cross of Calvary. That is why I celebrate Christmas and indeed why I go to Church.

1 Corinthians 11:23-27